Wilson, Elizabeth 1936-

PERSONAL:

Born 1936.

ADDRESSES:

Home—England. E-mail—mail@elizabethwilson.net.

CAREER:

Academic and activist. London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London, England, visiting professor of cultural studies. Also lectured at the University of North London.

WRITINGS:

Women and the Welfare State, Tavistock Publications (London, England), 1977.

Only Halfway to Paradise: Women in Postwar Britain, 1945-1968, Tavistock (New York, NY), 1980.

Mirror Writing: An Autobiography, Virago (London, England), 1982.

Adorned in Dreams, Virago (London, England), 1985, published as Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1987, revised edition, Rutgers University Press (New Brunswick, NJ), 2003.

(With Angela Weir) Hidden Agendas: Theory, Politics, and Experience in the Women's Movement, Tavistock (New York, NY), 1986.

(With Lou Taylor) Through the Looking Glass: A History of Dress from 1860 to the Present Day, Parkwest (New York, NY), 1991.

The Sphinx in the City: Urban Life, the Control of Disorder, and Women, Virago Press (London, England), 1991, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1992.

(Editor, with Juliet Ash) Chic Thrills: A Fashion Reader, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1992.

(Editor, with Amy de la Haye) Defining Dress: Dress as Object, Meaning, and Identity, Manchester University Press (New York, NY), 1999.

Bohemians: The Glamorous Outcasts, Rutgers University Press (New Brunswick, NJ), 2000.

(Editor, with Joanne Entwistle) Body Dressing, Berg (New York, NY), 2001.

The Contradictions of Culture: Cities, Culture, Women, Sage (Thousand Oaks, CA), 2001.

NOVELS

The Lost Time Cafe, Virago Press (London, England), 1993.

Poisoned Hearts, Virago Press (London, England), 1995.

The Twilight Hour, Serpent's Tail (London, England), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Elizabeth Wilson is an academic and activist. Her writing ranges from novels to socio-cultural studies on feminism, history, fashion, and identity. Wilson has lectured at several universities in England on cultural studies. She published her first book, Women and the Welfare State, in 1977.

With coeditor Juliet Ash, Wilson published Chic Thrills: A Fashion Reader in 1992. The book looks at the politics of fashion, power struggles between genders, and how identities are constructed and contested in that arena. Laurie Ouellette, writing in the Women's Review of Books, found the account "highly readable." Ouellette criticized the book's ending, saying that it "concludes with a series of rather anticlimactic essays on utopian dress." She commented, however, that the book shows "that studying fashion can be more than just another academic ‘fashion choice.’"

Wilson published Bohemians: The Glamorous Outcasts in 2000. The study looks at the cultural aspects of Bohemianism through an historical approach and attempts to define it. Booklist contributor GraceAnne A. DeCandido found the study "clearly developed." DeCandido concluded by saying that "Bohemian themes of dress, eroticism, and excess are thoroughly explored. Fascinating." In a Library Journal review, Carol J. Binkowski noted that "Wilson delves with gusto" into the lives and lifestyles of the Bohemian culture in this book. Binkowski added that "artists, musicians, historians, and cultural observers will find this work thought-provoking."

In 2006 Wilson published her third novel, The Twilight Hour. The novel is set in 1947 as London is recovering from war and is suffering from freezing ice storms. Dinah Wentworth finds the murdered body of an artist but does not go to the police to report the incident. Her silence results in her husband's friend being framed for the crime. She faces further difficulties, though, when trying to set things right for the innocent man.

In a Time Out London Web site review, Roz Kaveney commented that "this is an atmospheric book in which foggy, half-ruined London is as much a character as the artists and good-time girls who wander through its pages." Colleen Mondor, writing on the Bookslut Web site, described the novel as "a marvelous whodunit with a startling finish," adding: "I found myself thoroughly pleased both with the way the mystery was solved and the many insights she provided for postwar British life." In a London Independent review, Zoë Fairbairns commented that "the observant writing ensures that the iciness of the winter of 1947 … rises off the page to nip your fingers." Fairbairns thought that the novel had "an oddly pedestrian ending," but nevertheless concluded that it was an "exciting, quirky story and a gripping evocation of an icy time." Writing on the Tangled Web UK Web site, Bob Cornwell described Wilson's writing style as "surefooted and convincing." Cornwell also took note of the heroine, saying that "amongst a particularly well-realised cast of characters, Dinah stands out." He concluded his review noting that "in the final pages, Wilson puts in place a last devastating revelation that gives the book yet another dimension. Terrific." Harriet Klausner, in an article on BookReview.com, remarked that "Dinah is a fascinating character." Klausner also took note of Wilson's focus on the location and period compared to the actual mystery, commenting that "the incredibly vivid look at the era (readers will shiver with the cold) supersedes the solid investigative subplot."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Journal of Sociology, September, 2002, Nick Crossley, review of Body Dressing, p. 491.

Booklist, November 15, 2000, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of Bohemians: The Glamorous Outcasts, p. 593.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, November, 1992, J.R. Hudson, review of The Sphinx in the City: Urban Life, the Control of Disorder, and Women, p. 554; February, 1994, review of Women and the Welfare State, p. 900.

Independent (London, England), July 18, 2006, Zoë Fairbairns, review of The Twilight Hour.

Library Journal, November 1, 2000, Carol J. Binkowski, review of Bohemians, p. 82.

Nation, October 11, 1993, Catherine Lutz, review of The Sphinx in the City, p. 392.

New City Magazine, September 22, 1993, review of The Sphinx in the City, p. 57.

New Statesman, December 6, 1985, Mary Harron, review of Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity, p. 24.

New Statesman & Society, June 28, 1991, Peter Jukes, review of The Sphinx in the City, p. 36; June 26, 1992, Lorraine Gamman, review of Chic Thrills: A Fashion Reader, p. 40.

Reference & Research Book News, February, 2004, review of Adorned in Dreams, p. 73.

Sociology, November, 2002, Malcolm Barnard, review of Body Dressing, p. 1012.

Times Educational Supplement, June 14, 1991, Colin Ward, review of The Sphinx in the City, p. 29.

Women's Review of Books, January, 1992, Joni Seager, review of The Sphinx in the City, p. 14; May, 1994, Laurie Ouellette, review of Chic Thrills, p. 21.

ONLINE

BookReview.com,http://www.bookreview.com/ (January 2, 2008), Harriet Klausner, review of The Twilight Hour.

Bookslut,http://www.bookslut.com/ (January 2, 2008), Colleen Mondor, review of The Twilight Hour.

Elizabeth Wilson Home Page,http://www.elizabethwilson.net (January 2, 2008), author biography.

Tangled Web UK,http://www.twbooks.co.uk/ (August 5, 2006), Bob Cornwell, review of The Twilight Hour.

Time Out London,http://www.timeout.com/london/ (July 7, 2006), Roz Kaveney, review of The Twilight Hour.